Back in September I went to politicalcompass.org and did the questionnaire. Here is where I am on the map according this set of criteria:
Here is the map of the Canadian political parties:
And here is a map of a set of international political figures:
So what's up? How come I am waaaay down there in the lower left corner? I am obviously not a more radical thinker than the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. I guess it is the lefty politics coupled with my obnoxious resistance to authority that lands me there on my own.
At first it startled me and made me feel a little lonely. Then, in an odd way, seeing myself as this little far off dot made me feel quite calm. Now that I can measure the distance, I find can listen much more openly and patiently to political rhetoric and analysis than I could when I was trying to see how my odd combination of beliefs and understandings fit with those of an existing political party. Now I do not try to fit things together. I make a map, plot out our relative positions, follow the contours, find the contested ground and calculate the mileage. In kilometres of course!
Tuesday 6 January 2009
longitude and latitude
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3 comments:
This is so fun! I just did it, too, and I'm also floating down there in the left...not quite as far as you, but pretty close. I bet it is only really lonely there in terms of the major political parties on offer in North America, not in terms of how people actually think! (Which I guess is sad, too, in a way.)
i had fun doing it too. i think if political compass kept a record of my friends and the people i like to talk to that left bottom corner would be a lot more crowded.
p.s. saleema, i LOVE your blog. great reads.
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